Abstract
This study was conducted to evaluate four hybrid poplar comparison tests along a groundwater availability gradient in Western Slovakia. The weather fluctuation during the 3-year study period was described with indices, such as the Forestry Aridity Index (FAI) or the hydrothermal coefficient (HTC). The soil chemical and physical parameters were determined from soil samples from the two upper horizons. The nutrient status and supply of the trees were categorized based on leaf elemental analysis. Altogether, 21 different clones from 6 genomic groups were compared. The survival (SRV), diameter at breast height (DBH), and height of the trees (H) had been measured annually since the plantations were established, and from these measurements, mean annual height increment (MAHI) values were derived. These weather, edaphic, and clonal factors were evaluated and compared. Significant effects of the site (edaphic factors) were found as the primary source of variance and clonal differences as secondary sources of variance among the growth of trees. The interaction of site × clone effects was not significant. The results showed that for short rotation forestry (SRF), the site parameters—especially groundwater availability—are key factors.
Highlights
The demand for softwood has grown substantially in recent years, while climate change started to threaten the future supply [1]
The main objectives of this paper are (1) to identify the environmental factors which have significant influence on the growth of the different hybrids, (2) to show how different hybrid poplar clones perform in Western Slovakia in short rotation plantations, and (3) to select which clones have the highest growth along an environmental gradient
The performance of ‘AF2’ based on a Latvian study [45] was lower than the ones we measured in Slovakia, probably because of the shorter and colder Latvian growing seasons
Summary
The demand for softwood has grown substantially in recent years, while climate change started to threaten the future supply [1]. To be prepared for a future wood shortage, one possible effective risk management strategy is the local resource production in plantations. This requires new policies and strategic decisions on the choice of tree species supported by quantified information on extreme weather. Since the oil crisis in the 1970s, the establishment of short rotation plantations (SRP) started to become popular, at first in the Scandinavian region [3]. A new growing interest started to rise in Europe for SRP, too [4]. The risks, opportunities, and the history of poplar cultivation in the Central European region [4] brought the Dendromass4Europe project (D4EU) to life
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